A new app out this week from food waste-fighting startup Zero Percent could let users indulge their snack cravings while helping feed the needy.

SnackPass, which launched publicly on Monday as a free iOS and Android app, lets customersgrab five snacks from area restaurants per month for a $10 subscription fee. Current options include blood orange chia pudding from Farmer's Fridge and soup dumplings from Wow Bao.

Zero Percent, a for-profit company that collects excess meals from restaurants and delivers them for free to nonprofits, will use the fees to cover food transportation costs, said CEO and founder Raj Karmani. SnackPass is the company's latest attempt to make money as it pursues its social mission of reducing food waste.

He said restaurants donate the snacks, so Zero Percent — which is backed by Impact Engine and angel investors — will get 100 percent of the fee, and that it will be able to deliver 30 meals for every $10.

The app is part of a new strategy to essentially crowdfund Zero Percent's costs while rewarding customers for their contribution, Karmani said. It previously charged partners a monthly fee to coordinate their meal donations.

But by early 2016, it was clear that some restaurants were interested in donating their excess meals but not in paying for the service, Karmani said. About 90 percent of interested restaurants did not want to pay for the service, he said.

"We were able to change the conversation (about food waste), but what we were not able to overcome was this reluctance of restaurants to pay the monthly fee," Karmani said.

SnackPass app

SnackPass app

Karmani said he wanted to figure out how to make the service affordable for restaurants while pursuing Zero Percent's dual goals of generating a profit and keeping food out of landfills.

He decided to experiment with a "Restaurant Giving Week" in February, during which participants gave $5 on a dedicated crowdfunding platform in exchange for perks such as juice from Freshii and brisket chili from Blackwood BBQ. About 30 restaurants participated, he said.

Karmani said the event brought in more than 500 contributions from diners. More than 80 of those diners participated in the beta test for SnackPass.

"This is much better than we thought it would be, but this is not the end, this is just one step to validating this model," Karmani said he thought at the time. "The biggest challenge is how do we grow it, how do we make it ongoing and self-sustaining and then how do we scale it? For us, it was just a step."

Zero Percent shut down the crowdfunding site in August and shifted to developing SnackPass, whose membership program Karmani sees as a better experience for ongoing participation.

Karmani hopes to use SnackPass to expand the crowdfunding model and bring in enough money for Zero Percent to increase its food donations and someday turn a profit.

Today, Zero Percent works with 30 food sellers in the Chicago area and Champaign and donates about 2,000 meals per day to about 60 nonprofits in Chicago, he said. New Zero Percent partners such as Wow Bao and existing donors such as Sopraffina offer items through SnackPass. Recipients include large charities such as the Salvation Army and smaller ones such as Apna Ghar, an Uptown organization that fights gender violence in immigrant communities.

Karmani said other food sellers and nonprofits have expressed interest in donating and receiving excess meals, but with four full-time employees and a small crew of contract drivers, Zero Percent doesn't have the capacity to handle much more at this point. If the app takes off and brings in enough revenue, it could help the company improve its technology and logistics in the future, he said.

A better delivery system could help Zero Percent get meals to 10 times more nonprofits, Karmani estimated. Right now, nonprofits pick up food themselves in Champaign and the Chicago suburbs, but Zero Percent delivers to all but a few organizations in the city of Chicago proper. He said he hopes to expand Zero Percent's delivery footprint.

Farmer's Fridge, which has nearly 60 fresh salad vending machines throughout Chicago, previously paid $250 per month for Zero Percent's daily meal pickup service. The company currently offers two snacks through SnackPass, which it sees as an in-kind donation and a way to promote its products while avoiding waste, said marketing manager Beth Somers.

She said Zero Percent's food waste minimizing efforts align with her company's values. Without that aspect, Farmer's Fridge might not participate, she said.

"There was no downside for us in partaking in the program," Somers said. "For us, it's just another way for people to learn about us."